Metro Vancouver woman selling used Volkswagen for eight Bitcoins

When Sarah Yu decided she was done with her white 2006 Volkswagen Jetta with heated leather seats, sunroof and 150,000 kilometres on the odometer, she sized it up and figured it was still worth about 10. Bitcoins, that is.

Photograph by: @thesarahyu
, Twitter

When Sarah Yu decided she was done with her white 2006 Volkswagen Jetta with heated leather seats, sunroof and 150,000 kilometres on the odometer, she sized it up and figured it was still worth about 10.

Bitcoins, that is.

As the crypto-currency continues to soar, Vancouver residents like Yu are looking to drive into the market by offering up their goods for coin. Phones, air compressors, vending machines, desks — they’re all up for the taking on sites like Craigslist, with BTC accepted just as readily as cash in hand.

But it’s still rare to see something so pricey as autos offered in trade for the buzz-heavy currency.

“I’m a big Bitcoin advocate and I thought, ‘Why not put it out there and see what comes back?’ ” said Yu, the managing director of public relations company Republic Media.

She posted — tweeted, rather — her ad earlier in the day. A car for 10 Bitcoins. It later became eight, when she rethought the asking price. As of Monday that would put the ride at about $7,280, or $910 per Bitcoin.

“I really believe in the power of crypto-currencies,” she said, adding that she hadn’t yet bothered to post the ad for the car in its cash equivalent. “For the first two weeks I’m just going to do Bitcoin.”

It’s not that she won’t accept Canadian dollars — it’s more that she sees the value of Bitcoin outpacing dollars markedly.

“I’ll take cash, sure, why not, but ... it’s really on its way out,” said Yu.

Bitcoin is digital, existing on the Internet but bought or sold for traditional currency, and used to purchase goods and services online and off.

The world’s first Bitcoin ATM went online Oct. 29 at a Waves coffee shop in downtown Vancouver. The price for the volatile currency has risen more than 400 per cent since that time, hitting highs above $1,200 a month ago before settling at $910 Monday.

Whether or not Bitcoin will one day take the place of cash in your wallet is up for debate, but it is certainly making sizable inroads in day-to-day transactions.

When Sarah Yu decided she was done with her white 2006 Volkswagen Jetta with heated leather seats, sunroof and 150,000 kilometres on the odometer, she sized it up and figured it was still worth about 10. Bitcoins, that is.

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